A range of factors must be considered in the construction of protective padded undergarments worn during participation in physical activities, such as contact sports. In particular, the factors include the comfort, the flexibility and the evaporative cooling enabled by the protective padded undergarments.
The conventional protective padded undergarment is an assembly composed of a fabric undergarment with one or more padded foam assemblies in which soft pad components are permanently attached to the fabric undergarment by sewing and/or adhesives.
A padded foam assembly of the conventional protective padded undergarment is typically a lamination comprised of a pad component, such as foam, and a fabric overlayer component. Typically, the foam component is affixed to the fabric overlayer using an adhesive. However, by fixing the fabric overlayer component to the pad component of the assembly using adhesive, the flexibility of the assembly is limited to the properties of the least flexible portion of the assembly.
Moreover, by laminating the fabric overlayer of the padded foam assembly to the foam component of the assembly by means of adhesive, there are limitations on the ability of the assembly to allow the flow of body heat and moisture generated by the wearer. These limitations are significant if “webbing type” film adhesive is used, but are even more objectionable if non “webbing type” adhesive is applied to at least one of the components.
In the conventional protective padded undergarment, the padded foam assembly is permanently attached to the fabric undergarment by stitching the perimeter of the assembly to the adjacent surface of the fabric undergarment. The flexibility properties of the thread-and-stitch design limits the stretching properties of the conventional protective padded undergarment, since the flexibility of the fabric area encompassed by the stitching is limited to the combined flexibility properties of the thread material and the particular stitch pattern.
Another concern with stitching the padding subassembly to the adjacent surface of the fabric undergarment is that it creates an abrasive raised thread surface on which the seam is exposed. This abrasive seam acts as a potential irritant to the skin of the wearer.